Walking In Abraham's Steps (Romans 4:9-12)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:04.440 Well, please remain standing and let's hear God's word. Now from Romans Chapter 2 00:00:04.639 --> 00:00:14.949 Four, Verses Nine through twelve. Just previous to these verses, on Paul 3 00:00:15.109 --> 00:00:20.910 has told us about the blessing that Abraham had received, namely the blessing of 4 00:00:21.030 --> 00:00:29.940 justification. And here he begins with a question of verse nine. Is this 5 00:00:30.140 --> 00:00:37.170 blessing then, only for the circumcised or also for the uncircumcised? We say 6 00:00:37.210 --> 00:00:42.609 that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. How, then, was accounted 7 00:00:42.649 --> 00:00:48.289 to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was 8 00:00:48.369 --> 00:00:54.640 not after, but before, before he was circumcised. He received the sign 9 00:00:54.799 --> 00:01:00.159 of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he 10 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:04.189 was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who 11 00:01:04.269 --> 00:01:11.069 believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 00:01:11.670 --> 00:01:15.269 and to make him the father of the circumcised, who are not merely 13 00:01:15.390 --> 00:01:21.180 circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham 14 00:01:21.219 --> 00:01:26.859 had before he was circumcised. May God bless his word to us. Please 15 00:01:26.900 --> 00:01:38.010 be seated. Of all the families on the earth, of all the families 16 00:01:38.170 --> 00:01:47.159 on the Earth, God singled out Abraham for special attention, special privilege, 17 00:01:47.319 --> 00:01:55.159 special blessing we're given to this particular family. The book of Genesis tells us 18 00:01:55.680 --> 00:02:00.790 this story that recounts for us the history of how this began. The first 19 00:02:00.950 --> 00:02:07.269 eleven chapters, which of course include the creation of the world and the flood, 20 00:02:07.750 --> 00:02:13.830 also include long genealogies, which we went through a few months back and 21 00:02:14.030 --> 00:02:17.860 we saw that these genealogies all led us up to chapter twelve, this very 22 00:02:19.379 --> 00:02:23.620 specific chapter, and really on a new beginning in a way, because it's 23 00:02:23.659 --> 00:02:31.689 there that God separates Abraham from these genealogies and these things that had happened among 24 00:02:31.969 --> 00:02:40.849 his brothers, Nahor and Harn. God separates Abraham. It's a geographical separation, 25 00:02:40.930 --> 00:02:46.520 at least on the surface. And first of all, in Genesis Twelve, 26 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:53.120 God says to Abraham, go from your country and your kindred and your 27 00:02:53.240 --> 00:02:58.560 father's house to the land that I will show you. Did you see? 28 00:02:58.560 --> 00:03:04.030 What I mean? Is this geographical separation. God removes Abraham, he takes 29 00:03:04.069 --> 00:03:08.949 him away from, in particular, his father's house, to the land that 30 00:03:09.030 --> 00:03:14.300 I will show you, not for a very particular reason that God's going to 31 00:03:14.379 --> 00:03:19.259 do this, and he tells Abraham what that is, namely it's that Abraham 32 00:03:19.379 --> 00:03:25.259 is going to become a father, he is going to become established his own 33 00:03:25.379 --> 00:03:31.969 household, and in a way that is different than just having more children and 34 00:03:32.250 --> 00:03:37.930 continuing on the family line. Know, this separation is of a quite a 35 00:03:38.050 --> 00:03:44.879 different magnitude. Do you remember the promises that God gives to Abraham? There's 36 00:03:44.919 --> 00:03:47.120 actually a lot of them. I'm if you. I I challenge you maybe 37 00:03:47.199 --> 00:03:51.599 to just write down a few and then be surprised at how many more there 38 00:03:51.639 --> 00:03:55.550 are, even after the ones you remember. God promises to Abraham to give 39 00:03:55.590 --> 00:04:00.710 him a land, in particular the land of Canaan. He promises to make 40 00:04:00.789 --> 00:04:06.789 his name great, he promises to make him a father of many and even 41 00:04:06.830 --> 00:04:12.740 to bless all the families of the earth through him. He promises that this 42 00:04:12.939 --> 00:04:18.139 family will be so stablished and so blessed that anyone who blesses Abraham will in 43 00:04:18.259 --> 00:04:26.050 turn be blessed and anyone who curses Abraham will in turn be cursed. Immediately 44 00:04:26.129 --> 00:04:30.449 after these promises, as an aside, we see these things happening right away, 45 00:04:30.930 --> 00:04:38.920 even though Abraham hasn't quite reached the land he finds himself in Egypt, 46 00:04:39.279 --> 00:04:44.519 and this all this kind of playing out, and then that continues throughout the 47 00:04:44.600 --> 00:04:49.439 Bible. When people run a foul of Israel, they get in trouble, 48 00:04:50.279 --> 00:04:56.230 they have bad things happen to them, curses of God fall upon them. 49 00:04:56.750 --> 00:05:00.910 A many of large sections that you find in the prophets are devoted specifically to 50 00:05:01.069 --> 00:05:06.819 this point. You particular country who did X to Israel, this is what's 51 00:05:06.819 --> 00:05:13.100 going to happen to you now. And likewise, even foreign countries that don't 52 00:05:13.620 --> 00:05:18.980 often receive God's blessing are blessed because of their connections with Abraham and his family. 53 00:05:21.649 --> 00:05:26.170 In addition to these promises, we also have a promise that in Genesis 54 00:05:26.209 --> 00:05:33.649 fifteen one, that God would be a loving, compassionate, protecting God to 55 00:05:33.730 --> 00:05:39.079 Abraham. In fifteen one, God says, fear not, Abraham, I 56 00:05:39.319 --> 00:05:46.319 am your shield. Your reward shall be very great. God is not distant 57 00:05:46.399 --> 00:05:49.670 from Abraham. He's not just a power or a force. He has a 58 00:05:49.790 --> 00:05:56.230 particular relationship with Abraham, and it's one of blessing. God, in all 59 00:05:56.310 --> 00:06:00.470 of his divinity and all of his power, has decided to use those use 60 00:06:00.589 --> 00:06:09.459 himself to give gifts to this man and all this is it comes through a 61 00:06:09.540 --> 00:06:15.860 particular child that is also promised to Abraham. Through this child, these things 62 00:06:15.379 --> 00:06:23.129 would be accomplished. Now want you to imagine for a moment that this had 63 00:06:23.170 --> 00:06:28.490 been you. Imagine that God came to you and promised you these things. 64 00:06:29.209 --> 00:06:31.410 I'm going to give you a land, I'm going to make you a father, 65 00:06:31.449 --> 00:06:35.720 or mother, as the case may be, of many nations. I 66 00:06:35.839 --> 00:06:42.199 am going to bless all of the world through you, I'm going to protect 67 00:06:42.199 --> 00:06:45.040 you, I'm going to give you rewards. Those who bless you. I 68 00:06:45.199 --> 00:06:49.149 will bless those who curse you. I will curse God says this to you, 69 00:06:50.589 --> 00:06:58.910 would you believe him? It's not necessarily guaranteed that you would. We 70 00:06:58.990 --> 00:07:02.220 have other examples in the Bible of God promising to do things and people not 71 00:07:02.339 --> 00:07:06.699 believing him, of saying no, I'm not interested, I don't care, 72 00:07:08.180 --> 00:07:13.060 I don't trust you, I don't want you. Abraham does believe. However, 73 00:07:13.939 --> 00:07:16.250 the Bible explains to us that this itself is a miracle of God, 74 00:07:16.370 --> 00:07:23.769 God working in him to draw him to himself and bring a out this gift 75 00:07:24.329 --> 00:07:31.600 of faith that God gives. But let's consider the other option. Imagine the 76 00:07:31.720 --> 00:07:38.160 same situation these promises given to you. You believe them. How would that 77 00:07:38.199 --> 00:07:44.550 affect your life? If you're Abraham, what would you tell your wife if 78 00:07:44.589 --> 00:07:47.790 these things were promised to you? Oh, would you tell your kids as 79 00:07:47.829 --> 00:07:55.189 you were raising them? He Hey, the PAL, I've got some really 80 00:07:55.269 --> 00:07:59.620 good news for you. God is a God to us. He is protecting 81 00:07:59.740 --> 00:08:05.420 us. You, Isaac, are the promised son the God has given to 82 00:08:05.540 --> 00:08:09.060 us, and he can give him examples of this. They can show him 83 00:08:09.100 --> 00:08:11.740 this. Thee it would talk of these things. All the events that would 84 00:08:11.740 --> 00:08:16.250 happen in their lives would be explained in this context. Well, we all 85 00:08:16.370 --> 00:08:20.610 know what happened to the Pharaoh in Egypt because of what God had said. 86 00:08:22.529 --> 00:08:26.759 We all know because this situation or that situation, because it's seen in this 87 00:08:28.199 --> 00:08:31.399 framework. Everything would change. You would live your life in a very different 88 00:08:31.440 --> 00:08:35.960 way if you believed these promises. For one, you would get up and 89 00:08:37.039 --> 00:08:41.669 go, God says, go, separate yourself from your country, your kindred, 90 00:08:41.789 --> 00:08:45.669 your father's house. This is not usually a safe thing to do, 91 00:08:45.750 --> 00:08:50.110 to go out on your own, to be off by yourself, away from 92 00:08:50.590 --> 00:08:58.419 your established relationships and connections. But Abraham trusts God and he goes. He 93 00:08:58.820 --> 00:09:07.580 changes his life because he believes these promises. Now imagine that you belong to 94 00:09:07.740 --> 00:09:11.769 such a family. Maybe you are born into a family that has been promised 95 00:09:11.809 --> 00:09:20.450 by God to receive all kinds of wonderful, wonderful blessings. I think that 96 00:09:20.649 --> 00:09:26.720 if you were born into such a family, you would feel honored, you 97 00:09:26.759 --> 00:09:33.720 would have a sense of privilege, of responsibility, of blessing. This is 98 00:09:33.960 --> 00:09:39.509 true of even our regular families and of just typical, run ofthemill families. 99 00:09:41.070 --> 00:09:48.029 If parents have a particular gift, let's say they're a crafts people, often 100 00:09:48.149 --> 00:09:52.149 it's the children who will learn those things, least to a certain extent. 101 00:09:52.899 --> 00:09:58.419 Maybe there are certain traditions in a family that get passed down. Maybe the 102 00:09:58.500 --> 00:10:03.059 family's been blessed with a lot of money. The parents feel the weight and 103 00:10:03.179 --> 00:10:07.210 responsibility good parents anyway, will feel the weight and responsibility of teaching their children 104 00:10:07.690 --> 00:10:11.809 how to deal with that. What the responsibilities are, the privileges that come 105 00:10:11.970 --> 00:10:18.289 with it, the things to be on guard for. That's just little things 106 00:10:18.529 --> 00:10:22.240 in life that we all deal with. How imagine this kind of promise, 107 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:31.080 this kind of blessing. Imagine the kinds of the kind of holy pride that 108 00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:39.230 you would feel knowing that God himself is your shield and your strength. Imagine 109 00:10:39.269 --> 00:10:43.669 the kind of confidence that you would have moving about in the world, the 110 00:10:43.789 --> 00:10:50.259 kind of assurance that you would have that you would be protected and cared for 111 00:10:52.019 --> 00:11:01.059 and loved. Well's this kind of confidence and pride that the Jews have often 112 00:11:01.179 --> 00:11:11.049 felt because of their connection to Abraham, and that pride and honor and privilege 113 00:11:11.409 --> 00:11:18.250 is all very much centered around this particular sign of circumcision, this sign which 114 00:11:18.570 --> 00:11:26.919 marked them out as the sons of Abraham. But there's this question that Paul 115 00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:33.549 is bringing up, this really important question. If Abraham is justified by faith, 116 00:11:33.629 --> 00:11:39.669 if faith only or I or if justification comes only by faith, then 117 00:11:39.830 --> 00:11:45.509 is it only for those who are circumcised? It's a natural question, isn't 118 00:11:45.509 --> 00:11:50.820 it? If God has singled out this particular Er family and promised these particular 119 00:11:50.940 --> 00:11:54.940 blessings them, well, then verse nine makes a lot of sense to ask. 120 00:11:56.139 --> 00:12:00.980 Is this blessing then only for the circumcised or also for the uncircumcised? 121 00:12:03.049 --> 00:12:09.370 He answers. We say that faith was counted to Abraham is righteousness. So 122 00:12:09.490 --> 00:12:13.929 that's the first point. How, then, was it counted? Here's the 123 00:12:13.049 --> 00:12:20.240 historical question. Now, was it before or after he had been circumcised? 124 00:12:20.200 --> 00:12:24.919 Well, Paul then answers that question in the next sentence. It was not 125 00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:30.230 after, but before he was circumcised. Well, now we're on to something 126 00:12:30.269 --> 00:12:33.429 really interesting, and you see how Paul is building in his case and he's 127 00:12:33.470 --> 00:12:39.190 going to ultimately reach what may be an obvious point to you already, that 128 00:12:39.350 --> 00:12:43.580 these blessings that are given to Abraham, this status that he had before God, 129 00:12:43.860 --> 00:12:50.179 didn't come to Abraham by his works and his good deeds. It came 130 00:12:50.259 --> 00:12:54.059 to him by faith. And since it came to him by faith, this 131 00:12:54.259 --> 00:13:01.730 blessing is not just for the circumcised but for all who believe. It's in 132 00:13:01.850 --> 00:13:07.409 that sense most of all that he is the father. He received the sign 133 00:13:07.490 --> 00:13:13.799 of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he 134 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:20.360 was still UNCIRCUMIS sized you see what Paul Sang there? He's saying that God, 135 00:13:20.879 --> 00:13:28.470 in this particular sign of circumcision, placed this promise, this seal on 136 00:13:28.629 --> 00:13:33.870 him as a way to say, the things that I have promised you are 137 00:13:33.029 --> 00:13:41.899 guarantee he received the sign of circumcision, this thing that pointed to these blessings 138 00:13:41.259 --> 00:13:48.740 that, through his seed, a child would be born, that through his 139 00:13:48.980 --> 00:13:52.860 seed the blessings would be given. That's what the sign pointed towards. It 140 00:13:54.179 --> 00:13:58.129 would require cutting off, it would require purification, but it would happen. 141 00:14:00.049 --> 00:14:03.129 It would happen through his seed. But it wasn't only a sign. His 142 00:14:03.250 --> 00:14:11.159 circumcision was also a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he 143 00:14:11.399 --> 00:14:16.000 was still uncircumcised. You see what he's saying then? Paul's not saying so 144 00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:22.200 Abraham went and circumcised himself and because he did this thing he became, he 145 00:14:22.399 --> 00:14:26.590 sort of entered into this status. No, he's saying that the circumcision was 146 00:14:26.870 --> 00:14:30.909 and, as US was, a sign and a seal of the status he 147 00:14:30.950 --> 00:14:39.139 already had while he was still uncircumcised, before he was Abraham as we know 148 00:14:39.259 --> 00:14:46.860 him. The promise came to him in that particular way, and not only 149 00:14:48.059 --> 00:14:54.690 and this wasn't haphazard. This was purposefully intended by God, Paul says. 150 00:14:54.529 --> 00:15:03.570 The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, 151 00:15:05.649 --> 00:15:09.240 so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make 152 00:15:09.279 --> 00:15:13.720 him the father of the circumcised, who aren't merely circumcised but who also walk 153 00:15:13.799 --> 00:15:20.639 in the footsteps of faith that our father Abraham had before he was before he 154 00:15:20.840 --> 00:15:28.509 was circumcised. One helpful way to understand what Paul saying here is to make 155 00:15:28.590 --> 00:15:35.429 a distinction about families and about this family in particular that God has desired to 156 00:15:35.629 --> 00:15:43.659 bless his this family that God would create through Abraham would very much be an 157 00:15:43.700 --> 00:15:48.620 earthly family. It would come through earthly means. There would be people with 158 00:15:48.980 --> 00:15:54.009 specific names, names that you can read in the Bible, people with particular 159 00:15:54.049 --> 00:16:03.440 characteristics, particular traits, but ultimately this would be a heavenly family. Ultimately, 160 00:16:03.559 --> 00:16:07.440 God was after not just a people that were sort of born and sharing 161 00:16:07.480 --> 00:16:11.720 the same genetic material. God was interested in having a people that had the 162 00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:18.350 same sort of spiritually genetic material, we might say people that had the Holy 163 00:16:18.509 --> 00:16:26.070 Spirit, in other words, people that were sons and daughters of God, 164 00:16:26.590 --> 00:16:33.700 that belonged to him in a way and that he desired one that would connect 165 00:16:33.940 --> 00:16:41.100 them in relationship that we would cry Abba father, and not only no god 166 00:16:42.419 --> 00:16:51.129 as a lawgiver, but also by His grace, God does this and creates 167 00:16:51.289 --> 00:16:56.929 this glorious heavenly family by his work. That's how God is glorified in it. 168 00:16:57.370 --> 00:17:03.120 He does this amazing thing. But how is Abraham glorified in all of 169 00:17:03.200 --> 00:17:07.400 this as he did, glorified by Abraham's work? No, Abraham receives all 170 00:17:07.440 --> 00:17:14.440 of these blessings and all of this glory as a gift. It's received, 171 00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:22.869 it's not earned, Paul says not. Ask You, how do you receive 172 00:17:22.990 --> 00:17:26.269 a gift? If, right now, I bring a nice shiny package with 173 00:17:26.390 --> 00:17:30.099 a bow on it and and I hand it to you, how do you 174 00:17:30.259 --> 00:17:33.339 receive it? Well, you would probably use verbs like you take it, 175 00:17:34.779 --> 00:17:40.579 grab it, you hold it, you receive it. Well, that's exactly 176 00:17:40.619 --> 00:17:45.289 what Abraham did with the pro promises that were given to him, except because 177 00:17:45.289 --> 00:17:48.930 their promises and not a box with paper, we use a different verb. 178 00:17:49.930 --> 00:17:59.440 We call it believing faith. We grasp hold of the promises in our hearts. 179 00:17:59.480 --> 00:18:06.839 It's like a heart grasping, a heart taking. We believe unbeliefs the 180 00:18:06.920 --> 00:18:10.920 opposite. Right, a promise is given to you and you walk away from 181 00:18:10.960 --> 00:18:12.990 it because you don't believe. If somebody says I'm going to give you a 182 00:18:14.109 --> 00:18:18.710 thousand dollars today and you believe it, you're going to take hold of it 183 00:18:18.829 --> 00:18:22.470 in your heart, you're going to look forward to it. You're going to 184 00:18:22.509 --> 00:18:25.390 ask him when am I going to get the money? If somebody says, 185 00:18:25.390 --> 00:18:27.099 however, I'm going to give you a thousand dollars today, and you don't 186 00:18:27.140 --> 00:18:33.259 believe it, then it means nothing to you. You didn't take hold of 187 00:18:33.339 --> 00:18:37.779 it, you don't grasp it, you don't receive that promise. Well, 188 00:18:37.859 --> 00:18:44.849 that is the work that Abraham did. That's the obedience of faith. It 189 00:18:45.009 --> 00:18:48.450 wasn't a work in the sense that we think of works usually. It was 190 00:18:48.490 --> 00:18:52.289 a work in the sense of receiving, of grasping, of holding, of 191 00:18:52.529 --> 00:18:57.599 taking a gift that was given. That's what Abraham did, and he did 192 00:18:57.640 --> 00:19:04.200 it while he was uncircumcised, and that's important because it says something about the 193 00:19:04.359 --> 00:19:11.230 nature of this particular blessed family. It defined is what it means to be 194 00:19:11.549 --> 00:19:17.470 a part of that family, what it means to walk in the footsteps of 195 00:19:17.670 --> 00:19:27.019 faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. There's this distinction between 196 00:19:27.059 --> 00:19:33.619 being in the family and really being in the family. You've experienced this in 197 00:19:33.700 --> 00:19:37.730 your own families. I remember hearing a story on the radio. I can't 198 00:19:37.730 --> 00:19:41.369 remember where I heard it, though, so apologies to the one who told 199 00:19:41.410 --> 00:19:47.369 it, but it was a story that was a true story about this young 200 00:19:47.490 --> 00:19:52.650 man who grew up in somewhat of a chaotic household and there was this tenant, 201 00:19:52.730 --> 00:19:56.440 so that was always kind of living in their living room. But there 202 00:19:56.480 --> 00:20:02.359 were very strict rules on this tenant. He was not allowed to touch any 203 00:20:02.400 --> 00:20:07.950 of the food in the fridge and his mother would actually put specific labels not 204 00:20:07.269 --> 00:20:11.029 for and I forget the man's name. WILL SAY MR F, not for 205 00:20:11.109 --> 00:20:14.829 Mr F, not for Mr F, and if there was milk that belonged 206 00:20:14.869 --> 00:20:17.470 to Mr F, then it had Mr F's name on it was all very 207 00:20:17.509 --> 00:20:22.220 separated and regulated and the boy would live in his household and kind of bump 208 00:20:22.299 --> 00:20:26.700 into him occasionally and step over him and move around him. Well, was 209 00:20:26.819 --> 00:20:30.579 he tells this story and by the time he gets to the end he reveals 210 00:20:30.779 --> 00:20:33.779 that Mr F, he finds out as an adult, is his dad. 211 00:20:36.809 --> 00:20:38.450 And what happened was, back when he was a kid, there was enough 212 00:20:38.609 --> 00:20:41.930 fair is gone. Got Really Mad and she couldn't kick him out of the 213 00:20:42.049 --> 00:20:48.049 house, so she kind of did it in the house and there he lived 214 00:20:48.089 --> 00:20:53.519 as Mr f. He wasn't a member of the family, though technically they 215 00:20:53.559 --> 00:20:57.440 never got divorce, though technically he was still his dad, he never even 216 00:20:57.599 --> 00:21:02.240 realized it until it was older. Why? Because he wasn't a member of 217 00:21:02.319 --> 00:21:07.549 the family anymore. The opposite can also happen, can't it? People that 218 00:21:07.670 --> 00:21:12.910 don't really belong can be brought in. Some of you here in this congregation 219 00:21:14.069 --> 00:21:21.059 have been adopted into your families. You don't share the same genetic material as 220 00:21:21.140 --> 00:21:25.940 your mom and dad, and yet they are your mom and dad. They 221 00:21:26.660 --> 00:21:34.930 belong to you and you belong to them. We could give other examples of 222 00:21:36.049 --> 00:21:41.849 what it means to be long to a family. The family of God has 223 00:21:41.930 --> 00:21:45.250 these kinds of distinctions as well. There is belonging to the family and then 224 00:21:45.289 --> 00:21:52.880 there's really belonging to the family. Paul makes this distinction specifically regarding to the 225 00:21:53.000 --> 00:21:57.720 Jews. Regarding the Jews in verse twelve, when he says to make him 226 00:21:57.720 --> 00:22:02.710 the father of the circumcised, that is, of the Jews who are not 227 00:22:03.190 --> 00:22:07.869 merely circumcised. You hear that word, he's saying there's a way in which 228 00:22:07.869 --> 00:22:12.150 you can sort of merely have this but not really have it, because they're 229 00:22:12.190 --> 00:22:18.579 not walking in the footsteps of faith. Listen to some of the things that 230 00:22:18.700 --> 00:22:25.940 Paul says in Chapter Nine, in nine, verse six, he says, 231 00:22:26.140 --> 00:22:29.460 but it is not as though the word of God has failed, for not 232 00:22:29.819 --> 00:22:37.650 all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel. Not who are all who 233 00:22:37.690 --> 00:22:45.440 are descended from Israel belong to Israel. These points are made elsewhere, even 234 00:22:45.480 --> 00:22:52.920 by our savior, Jesus, says not all who take on his name actually 235 00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:57.400 belong to him. We saw this and they we see this an example of 236 00:22:57.440 --> 00:23:03.269 Judas there with the twelve disciples belonging to them, eating together, living together, 237 00:23:03.990 --> 00:23:15.180 working together, and yet ultimately not together, ultimately not belonging. But 238 00:23:15.299 --> 00:23:18.180 the flip side of this is just as there are Jews who aren't really Jews, 239 00:23:18.299 --> 00:23:25.140 there are gentiles who are Jews, there are those who are uncircumcised, 240 00:23:25.180 --> 00:23:33.170 who rightly can be considered circumcised, who can call Abraham my father, even 241 00:23:33.170 --> 00:23:37.369 when they have nothing genetically to do with him. Why? Because of the 242 00:23:37.490 --> 00:23:42.599 way this family is formed, because of the purpose that God intended for them, 243 00:23:44.680 --> 00:23:52.119 because of what he ultimately wanted. There is a physical way this family 244 00:23:52.319 --> 00:23:57.390 is formed, a visible way this family can be seen. The same as 245 00:23:57.470 --> 00:24:03.710 true in the Church today. There are those who are technically members of the 246 00:24:03.750 --> 00:24:07.910 church who have been baptized, who call themselves Christians, and whom we call 247 00:24:07.029 --> 00:24:17.900 Christians but are not actually regenerated on the inside, don't actually belong because they 248 00:24:18.059 --> 00:24:23.019 haven't believed. They may say they believe, they may put a show on 249 00:24:23.289 --> 00:24:33.410 outwardly, but inwardly they know. Ultimately, God defines this family spiritually and 250 00:24:33.650 --> 00:24:38.839 though it has a visible aspect right now, it's somewhat hidden and mixed, 251 00:24:41.960 --> 00:24:47.880 not only because of the goal but also because of the means. Consider how 252 00:24:48.079 --> 00:24:53.269 this family is formed in history. How did the child that was promised to 253 00:24:53.349 --> 00:25:00.150 Abraham, how is he born? Miraculously, wasn't he? Do you remember 254 00:25:00.150 --> 00:25:03.950 how old Abraham was? Ninety nine years old. His wife, like all 255 00:25:04.190 --> 00:25:08.700 so and baron her life during her whole life. They were not expecting a 256 00:25:08.779 --> 00:25:12.700 child, they could not have a child, but they had a child. 257 00:25:15.099 --> 00:25:19.259 This would continue to happen all the way to the promised of promised children, 258 00:25:19.299 --> 00:25:30.369 Jesus himself. You remember how Jesus was born Virgin, the spirit of God 259 00:25:32.250 --> 00:25:41.079 hovering over her and causing her to conceive. This spiritual family was born literally 260 00:25:42.200 --> 00:25:48.640 by the Holy Spirit. And we, even though we are not a genetically 261 00:25:48.839 --> 00:25:56.150 connected to Jesus. Do you remember what the Bible says. We are given 262 00:25:56.509 --> 00:26:02.630 who. We are given all who believe that same Holy Spirit, God, 263 00:26:02.990 --> 00:26:07.940 our father, gives us himself. He annoints us, he saves us, 264 00:26:08.579 --> 00:26:12.740 he fills us with his spirit, he unites us together and creates a family 265 00:26:12.980 --> 00:26:21.329 by his spirit, and he pours out all these blessings on us. Now, 266 00:26:21.410 --> 00:26:25.529 those who fail to understand this distinction that Paul is making in these verses 267 00:26:26.250 --> 00:26:32.130 will find that their error is fatal. To assume that you belong to the 268 00:26:32.329 --> 00:26:38.160 family of God on the wrong assumptions, on the wrong basis, will ultimately 269 00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:42.279 kill you. It will bring you under the wrath and curse of God, 270 00:26:42.519 --> 00:26:47.789 because it means that you are going to God, you are calling yourself his 271 00:26:48.029 --> 00:26:56.069 child when you have no right to be. It's presumptuous, it's arrogant to 272 00:26:56.190 --> 00:27:00.869 reject the promises of God, to be given all of these blessings and say 273 00:27:00.910 --> 00:27:04.220 I don't want them, I'm going to come to you on my own terms. 274 00:27:04.380 --> 00:27:07.019 I want what I want and in the way that I want it. 275 00:27:08.619 --> 00:27:14.099 Do you think that God will bless that person? He says he will not. 276 00:27:15.410 --> 00:27:19.809 But to the person who understands what God is saying here, to those 277 00:27:19.890 --> 00:27:26.569 who do believe, we find ourselves doing more than imagining what it would be 278 00:27:26.730 --> 00:27:33.000 long like to belong to the family of Abraham, because the Bible says that 279 00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:37.039 we do belong to the family of Abraham. We don't have to merely imagine 280 00:27:37.119 --> 00:27:44.470 what it might be like to be a gentile and to have God's blessings pour 281 00:27:44.670 --> 00:27:49.430 out on us, all, received and grasped and taken hold of by believing 282 00:27:49.549 --> 00:27:55.750 and by faith, because, as Christians who believe, that's exactly what has 283 00:27:55.750 --> 00:28:03.660 happened. And even though we you may not necessarily be one who is of 284 00:28:03.859 --> 00:28:12.609 the circumcised, or maybe you are a Jew but believe in Jesus. In 285 00:28:12.809 --> 00:28:18.569 either case, than you have these great joys and privileges of naming Abraham as 286 00:28:18.609 --> 00:28:27.000 your father. Those who believe are indeed members of his family, and that 287 00:28:27.119 --> 00:28:33.279 will affect our lives, won't it will change, and does change, the 288 00:28:33.400 --> 00:28:37.480 ways in which we act, the ways in which we live, the kinds 289 00:28:37.519 --> 00:28:41.349 of confidence we have, the one we go to when we need help and 290 00:28:41.589 --> 00:28:51.109 protection and shielding. We go to the God of Abraham, to the God 291 00:28:51.150 --> 00:28:57.140 of our fathers, because he is our God as well, received not by 292 00:28:59.019 --> 00:29:07.099 the virtue of our physical birth but because of our spiritual birth. May God 293 00:29:07.259 --> 00:29:11.369 grant us this, this privilege, this blessing, this honor. May he 294 00:29:11.569 --> 00:29:18.009 teach us to walk and with according accordingly and with that sense of responsibility. 295 00:29:18.170 --> 00:29:25.400 Maybe walk according to faith, even as Abraham walked, believing and trusting the 296 00:29:25.559 --> 00:29:27.880 promises of God. Let us pray.